For Hardware Partners
Make Your Hardware Family-Friendly
One person in each household knows how to use your device. Everyone else waits for them.
NFC cards let kids, spouses, and guests use your hardware without learning the interface.
Target
FPGA & Emulation Hardware
Integration
Days to prototype
Key Benefit
Family accessibility
Platforms
MiSTer, Batocera, Windows, more
The Problem
Your hardware is good. But using it requires navigating file systems, selecting cores, managing ROMs. That's fine for the person who set it up.
It's not fine for their 6-year-old, their partner, or the friend who came over to play Contra. For every enthusiast who buys your hardware, there's often a spouse, kids, or guests who never touch it.
82% of parents play video games with their children, according to the ESA's 2025 Essential Facts report. That's a huge potential audience, if they can actually use the device.
That's a problem for you:
- • Devices that only one person uses don't get recommended
- • "How do I start a game?" fills your support queue
- • "Too complicated" shows up in return reasons. Industry surveys show 70% of consumers would return a product simply because it's hard to operate.
- • You can't sell a "family edition" when the interface still requires technical knowledge
You end up selling to hobbyists who enjoy the setup process. Everyone else looks at your device and thinks "that's not for me."
The Solution
NFC cards give everyone in the house a way to use the device without learning it. Tap a card, game starts. That's the whole interaction.
"My kids love finally having a physical object to start games. Helps move them off the decision paralysis too."
— Martin H., verified buyer
A 6-year-old can't navigate folder hierarchies. But they can pick up a card and tap it. Same goes for spouses, grandparents, and guests who don't want to learn a new interface just to play a game.
We're not replacing your interface. We're adding a simpler one on top of it, for the people who don't want to learn yours.
Integration
Zaparoo Core fits into existing stacks. You don't need to rebuild anything.
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| NFC readers | Standard USB. Drivers ship with Zaparoo Core. |
| Platforms | MiSTer, Batocera, Windows, SteamOS, LibreELEC |
| Footprint | ~30MB service, free and open source. No kernel changes. |
| Management | Phone app, web UI, or JSON-RPC API |
Partnership Options
Ship It Pre-Installed
Include an NFC reader and Zaparoo-enabled image with your hardware. Good for a "Family Edition" SKU.
Build It Into Your Launcher
Call our API from your own frontend. Your branding, your UX. We handle the NFC backend, or the entire launching stack.
Who Does What
We handle:
- • Core software updates
- • Mobile app
- • API and documentation
- • Zaparoo-related support
You handle:
- • Shipping the hardware
- • System images
- • NFC readers (shop or contact for bulk pricing)
Most partners get a working prototype in a few days.
Practical Considerations
Card Durability
Kids are rough on things. NFC cards and stickers are easy to replace, and rewriting a new one takes seconds via the phone app.
The cards are durable, but replacements are easy to source if needed.
Reader Options
Use our recommended USB readers, or integrate your own. Zaparoo Core handles the driver integration.
We can advise on reader selection for your specific form factor.
Let's Figure Out If This Fits
If you're shipping retro or emulation hardware and want to reach people beyond the enthusiast crowd, we should talk. A 30-minute call is usually enough to figure out if there's a fit and what a pilot would look like.